Zan speaks at the UN

Mr. Samuel Zan Akologo, Executive Secretary of the Department of Human Development at the National Catholic Secretariat, Accra, will be speaking at the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiations of the Post-2015 Development Agenda at the United Nations, New York.     

He is being invited as a representative of Caritas Internationlis in Rome and member of Post-2015 Working Group. He is expected to contribute to the voice of the Catholic Church on the new successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expires this year.

Mr. Akologo will make his intervention on April 23^rd, during the interactive dialogue with Major Groups and other stakeholders as part of the joint session of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Financing for Development negotiations.

This meeting according to development analyst is the second and most critical phase of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which seeks to tackle new financing formula for development and prepare the final Post-2015 Development Agenda draft for the UN Head of States Submit in September 2015.    

Mr. Akologo with over 25 years of Civil Society activism locally and internationally, the opportunity to speak at the UN platform comes as a plus to his career and the Church in Ghana and Africa. He will draw lessons and experiences as the former Country Director of SEND-Ghana, a National Public Policy Advocacy NGO and his many years of Human Rights activism with Amnesty International.

Having studied Education at the Bimbilla College of Education and University of Education, Winneba, Mr. Akologo holds a Post-Graduate degree in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and a Masters in Government and Economic Reform at the University of Westminster in London.

He has served on Committees of many Public Institutions including Senior High Schools, Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) and the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) of Ghana’s Petroleum Revenue Management.  Zan belongs to the Community of Practitioners (CoP) of Gestalt Psychology and Organizational Development (OD) certified by the University of Cleveland (USA) and the OD Centre in Ghana.

So far, over 1000 Civil Society Organisations from 130 countries around the world has signed on to the Beyond 2015 campaign, which is strongly pushing for a legitimate successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals, which is likely to be christened Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Asked how he felt about the invitation, Mr. Akologo said he was humbled by the recognition and noted that one good news for Africa in the development discourse was that the Africa Union was presenting a Common Africa Position (CAP) in Post-2015 Development Agenda.  He also thinks the focus of the April Session on Means of Implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda makes it crucial for him to express an opinion.

The City of God in Ghana?

What comes to mind when City of God is mentioned? And how will you feel if you hear that there is a City of God in your neighbourhood?

These were but few curious questions that crossed my mind when I first heard the name City of God. I wondered where this City of God could be? Could it be the haven of heavens? What does it look like?

Generally, names like City of God comes with a reverence that inspires holiness and hope. My first encounter with the name was several years ago when I heard of St. Augustine of Hippo’s classic De Civitate Dei contra Paganos, translated in English as The City of God Against the Pagans or The City of God.

Considered as one of St. Augustine’s important works, the 5th century book, which espoused Christian philosophy, was in response to allegations that Christianity brought about the decline of Rome. Many scholars agree that The City of God is a cornerstone of Western thought, expounding on many profound questions of theology, such as the suffering of the righteous, the existence of evil, the conflict between free will and divine omniscience, and the doctrine of original sin.

After St. Augustine’s book in the in the 5^th century a lot of literature and other audiovisual materials have been produced on the City of God.   

In Accra there is a shantytown along the Odaw River and the Korle Lagoon, originally christened Old Fadama. Old Fadama, with an estimated population of over 80,000, and makeshift kiosks, has derogatively been referred to as “Sodom and Gomorrah”.

Similar to the classic of St. Augustine, the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra through The City of God is laying a cornerstone of evangelising people, bringing relief to the suffering of the righteous, bring light to dispel the darkness of evil, as well as reorient Ghanaians that the people of City of God are good and godly people created and loved by God.

With demand far outstripping inadequate social amenities such as sanitation, running water, medical services in the midst of heaps of waste, including electronic waste and metal scraps, life in the largest slum in the Ghana could be perilous, dangerous and uncertain or unreliable opportunities for social advancement and progress.

As inhabitants of the place are largely stigmatised for where they live, with constant threat of eviction by governments without a corresponding degree of commitment to support the inhabitants, leave much to be desired. But Rev. Fr. Subash Chittilappilly, MC, says there are Gods people living there and that, Ghanaians have no right to describe the place derogatively.

He says there was need to consciously support the people there overcome their challenges instead of stigmatising and neglecting them totally.

In his two years duty stay at the City, Fr. Chittilappilly of the Missionary of Charity, urged stakeholders to support the people of Old Fadama, and entreating retired teachers and the youth of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, particularly those with expertise in English, Mathematics and Computer Science to volunteer their time to help train some of inhabitants at the City of God.           

It is true there is a City of God at Old Fadama, striving to improve upon the many lives of people living there and help improve their living standards, as well as erase the offensive name and stigma given those living there.    

As Jesus Christ invited his disciples in John 1: 39 to come and see his place, Fr. Chittilappilly also throws on open invitation to all to come and see what goes on at the City of God.

MAREDES support two Hospitals

The Marshallan Relief and Development Services (MAREDES), a Non-Governmental Organisation for the Knights and Ladies of Marshal, a Catholic friendly Society, has presented various medical equipment worth GH¢ 150 to two Catholic Hospitals to support their work.

The items which comprised Gynecological, Surgical and laboratory instrument and equipment were presented to National Catholic Secretariat (NCS) for onward distribution to beneficiary Hospitals: the Catholic Hospital at Battor in the Volta Region and the St. Gregory Catholic Hospital at Gomoa-Buduburam, (Liberia Camp) in the Central Region.

Mr. Edward Aloysius Prah, Board Chairman of MARESDES, in a speech said the donation was in line with the society’s aim to expand its charitable services to humanity.

He noted that the donation of medical equipment marks the beginning of series of activities to contribute to improved health service delivery, sanitation awareness creation and public health, which MAREDES has prioritized for the next three years.

He commended Dr. and Mrs. Nartey, accomplished medical officers and a specialist, through whose instrumentality the donation was made.

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Abbey-Quaye, Assistant Secretary General of the NCS, who received the equipment, thanked MAREDES and Dr. and Mrs. Nartey for the donation, and appealed to benevolent and philanthropist to support the hospitals to further Christ healing ministry in the country.

Dr. Anita Appiah of the Directorate for Health at the NCS on behalf of the beneficiary hospitals, also thanked MAREDES and Dr. and Mrs. Nartey for the donation, describing it as an answered prayer to the health facilities, since the equipment were badly needed.

She said the items would go a long way to help in health delivery.       

Present were members of MAREDES, as well as Mr. Ekow Painstil, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Marshal and Madam Rose Erskine, who jointly presented the equipment to the Fr. Abbey-Quaye and Dr. Appiah.